Thursday, October 25, 2012

RM Classic 5k 2012

Selfishly, the RM Classic 5k is one of my favorite events of the year. But realistically, it's also pound-for-pound one of the most competitive races around. With 20 finishers it was one of the biggest fields we've had, and the average time was 18 minutes. We were fortunate to have pretty amazing weather - it was definitely not a typical fall day. 80 degrees as the high on October 24th is awesome, and conditions were perfect on the track by the start time. People came ready to run, and there was no wind, so we expected some great times.

Dan Miranda was the early antagonist (or maybe protagonist, depending on your point of view) as he took off from the gun and set the early pace. Dan was looking to crack 16, and it didn't look like he was going to have much help. He was the leader through 8 laps (5:06, 10:18), before 2-time defending champ Dustin Meeker, leading a pack that included Nate Brigham, Alex Battaglino, and Steve Febish, swallowed up Dan and assumed the lead.

Dusty's original plan was to treat the race as more of a workout, but when the competitive juices began to flow, the Mighty Meeker did not back down. He charged to a 15:56 win, his 2nd fastest winning time, finishing just ahead of Alex and Nate. Based on my records, it's the fastest recorded time I've seen Alex run in his time here (16:10.99 at UMD Invite a couple seasons ago was his previous). Steve Febish was 4th, and Dan Miranda finished 5th in 16:13. This is just 1 second off his PR (set at Shamrock this year) and is about 15 seconds faster than his previous track 5k best. In 6th was Tim Burns, who has been running well lately, but one of the big surprises of the day was Arjun Majumdar, who finished 7th in 16:47.

Last year, when the race was held during daylight, Arjun ran a Baltimore-PR of 16:28. This year, particularly the past couple of months, have presented Arjun with the exciting new challenge of fatherhood. Tarala Majumdar made her first TNT appearance (decked in her TWSS onesie) and cheered with mom Melissa as Arjun ran a scintillating race.

Arjun was the last finisher in the 16s, and next up was Brennan Feldhausen (his first RM Classic, and first track 5k since he's lived here), followed by Patrick O'Rourke. There was a gap to Andy Thivierge, whose 17:47 was on par with his other 5k's this year. Yours truly thought he was set up for a decent run as my first two miles were 5:45-5:45, but then I ate it and finished up at 18:14, right ahead of Matt Franco.

Just behind us was women's winner and now two-time champ, Diane Heiser, in 18:18. This is a track best for her, 19 seconds faster than her 2010 winning time and just 8 seconds slower than her 18:10 road best. Meg McNew was 2nd across the line in a new track PR, just ahead of Jon Miller, whose 18:39 was a 5k best for him. Amy Horst hasn't run a ton since Rockville, which made her 18:46 that much more impressive. PJ Anderer was a little over a minute back of that.

We had a really great surprise visit by Alex Viana, who regardless of his running status has always come out to support this race. Today he ran a very impressive 20:11, and as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. Sara Breedlove was looking for a good day, and quickly realized she wasn't feeling it. But, despite how easy it would have been for her to step off the track and call it a day, she soldiered on and finished the race. Our final finisher (lantern rouge) was Joel Gladfelter. Joel is the only 4-time finisher of the event, and having just ran a 50 miler on Sunday, his legs were as one would have expected. But he ran a great 21:42. I am sure the extra day of recovery helped a little too.

Thanks to everyone who came out and ran tonight, and helped make a fun night. I'm sure the Wednesday night workout threw some schedules out of whack! Special thanks to the Majumdars for coming out, and Alex Viana, and shouts to our winners and of course to Joel. In the tradition of the Grand Boucle, Dan Miranda won the Prix de la Combativite for his aggressive running.

RM Classic 5k
October 24, 2012

Results

1. Dustin Meeker 15:56
2. Alex Battaglino 16:01
3. Nate Brigham 16:03
4. Steve Febish 16:09
5. Dan Miranda 16:13
6. Tim Burns 16:28
7. Arjun Majumdar 16:47
8. Brennan Feldhausen 17:13
9. Patrick O'Rourke 17:16
10. Andy Thivierge 17:47
11. Ryan McGrath 18:14
12. Matt Franco 18:15
13. Diane Heiser 18:18 (1st F)
14. Meg McNew 18:38 (2nd F)
15. Jon Miller 18:39
16. Amy Horst 18:46 (3rd F)
17. PJ Anderer 19:52
18. Alex Viana 20:11
19. Sara Breedlove 21:24 (4th F)
20. Joel Gladfelter 21:42

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey, I am looking for a running group and was just wondering where and when you guys meet? Thanks!

RM said...

Hi Tara - we have a couple of runs during the week that people will attend.

Mondays we meet at 6:30pm in Federal Hill (39 E. Cross St, outside of Fed Hill Fitness). This is a social run and there are people running all different paces. Most people run between 4 and 6 miles.

Tuesdays are track workouts at Gilman High School in Roland Park. We meet to warm up at 6:30pm and start the workout at 7pm.

These are our two big nights, then there are a few other runs. Feel free to email me at runbaltimore@gmail.com and I'll pass along some information.